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Re: Well, Im checking off something from my bucket list in J

Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2017 11:22 pm
by Leones
Great pics! Thanks for sharing them. Looks like you had an experience to last lifetime. 2 Laps of the Ring? We need lap times! ;-D

Seeing the elevations at Spa and Nurburgring must have really made an impression. It was pretty striking just seeing them in your photos.

Sound check! Corvette or Aston Martin? :grin:

Re: Well, Im checking off something from my bucket list in J

Posted: Wed Jun 28, 2017 12:13 pm
by Reg
Leones wrote:Sound check! Corvette or Aston Martin? :grin:
Corvette, 100% !

As far as sound, it had such a distinctive, heavy, powerful rumble! It sounded so nice, that even sitting at our camp site (a quarter-mile inland from the Porsche Curves), I could spot that sound in relation to the others, as it motored it's way around the track!

We also both (my friend and I) cheered for the #63 Corvette to win. The finish was unbelievable! It was such a great fight for the win!

For those that want to see the finish, here are the last 10 minutes : remember, this is after 23 hours and 50 minutes of racing!
Corvette in yellow, Aston Martin in dark green :D
We were sitting at the Porsche Curves, at the 0:35 mark. The corner with the blue outside wall!






Patrick, did you have any favorites in the race?

Re: Well, Im checking off something from my bucket list in J

Posted: Wed Jun 28, 2017 12:25 pm
by Reg
Leones wrote:2 Laps of the Ring? We need lap times! ;-D
I wish! We weren't allowed to film/time our laps :(
It certainly didn't stop me from whipping out my cell phone and catch at least a small portion of my buddy's lap!

We went on what they call "Tourist Days". You can show up with your car/bike/moped/van/truck/whatever, pay a few bucks (50€ for 4 laps, in our case), and go! The rule is that you can drive like a normal track, but when a faster car catches up to you, you must put the blinker to the right, and move to the right whenever you can safely do so (the left is the "fast lane").

In the video, we had just left the toll booth and had a Civic behind us... and some sort of Prototype/Radical car behind it. We were paranoid, since we figured the Prototype would catch up to us in a hurry, but he must have held back and kept us nervous through the length of the video (he eventually passed us on the way into the Aremberg hairpin).

Super cool experience, though!


Re: Well, Im checking off something from my bucket list in J

Posted: Wed Jun 28, 2017 3:52 pm
by Leones
Trendsetters wrote:
Leones wrote:Sound check! Corvette or Aston Martin? :grin:
Corvette, 100% !

...

Patrick, did you have any favorites in the race?
Wierdly I really didn't for once. I used to pull for the 'Vettes before the Ford GT showed up. Now I just like watching them duke it out with the Astons and Ferraris. Jan Magnussen is always a favorite though. He's at the point where Johnny O'Connell was years ago and Ron Fellows before him. It's juts a treat enjoy his latter days in the car. Seeing Toyota redeem themselves would have been nice but after this year's failures it may be even better to see them do it next year if they can.

There are always a handful of drivers to root for. This year they were scattered across a lot of teams. No one team really stood out for me this year. Kind of like figuring out your favorite dish at a huge meal. They all end up contributing in some way. In the end the meal's the main thing.

So many great stories.

How about when the lead Toyota (#7) dropped out of the race after what was looking like a sure win? Turns out the car developed clutch issues due to a number of restarts beginning when, after sitting at pit exit, waiting for a safety car, a driver from another car comes out to give the #7 driver an 'attaboy' He flashes a tumbs up and the #7 driver thinking he got released, leaves the pits illegally before being picked up by the safety car. The driver didn't properly engage the hybrid drive to leave under the normal electric/gasoline power sequence and that started a chain of events that led to clutch failure later.

The Corvette - Aston duel on the last lap was amazing too. After a 24 hour race it comes down to a mad dive through a corner. Whoever is writing these scripts is doing quality work!

Seeing the Jackie Chan team finish second on the podium was wild. Rebellion was a favorite of mine, finishing third, but they got disqualified from the podium for a bit of 'mechanical ingenuity' needed to keep a starter motor working. One of the team was discovered taping over a hole they drilled oin the bodywork of the car. This was needed for a mechanic to insert a metal rod so they could tap it with a hammer to free the starter motor after pit stops.

Re: Well, Im checking off something from my bucket list in J

Posted: Wed Jun 28, 2017 8:49 pm
by Denny
Great pics and video Reg! Sounds like a super fun trip....I've been to the Canadian and US GPs a handful of times but those don't compare to this! :clap:

Re: Well, Im checking off something from my bucket list in J

Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2019 12:47 am
by Reg
Believe it or not, my trip, mostly orchestrated by my buddy Jared, was chronicled in a youtube/video blog/thing, titled "Here's To Terrible Ideas", which has been our mantra for our friendship for the last 14 years, and so far unpublished. You are the first to see this (beta version) series!

Here is part 1, our trek, despite delays, out of Canada!



Part 2, our visit in Prague, Czech Republic! We finally met Kai (of Finland), and Jarda and Martin (both Czech) in person... three online racers we raced against for years. Two of which are life-long residents of Prague, and they were excited that they could show us around! We even had a (very anticipated) Europe vs Canada 9-ball billiards match...


Part 3, we leave Prague via overnight bus, take a 13-hour bus ride to Strasbourg, on the french/german border!


Part 4, We meet Yann and Lims, two more competitors! Yann invites us over for an evening at his parents' home, and after an evening of Kart Racing in his hometown, we leave the picturesque wilderness of eastern France to tackle the mighty Nurburgring!


Part 5 (narrated by yours truly!) we leave the 'Ring, and head to Belgium for a mid-way pitstop. we loop the old "Spa" track and visit the pits. A great primer for our time at LeMans! That is coming up soon!


Part 6 (LeMans) and 7 (Iceland), coming soon!

Re: Well, Im checking off something from my bucket list in J

Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2019 5:16 am
by Fishermen
Thanks for bumping this Reg I wasn’t here for the first time of posting it. That pub with the beer taps at your table I’ve been to about five years ago, or at least very similar, was it in Pilsen? Wouldn’t work in the UK though, be really difficult to get guys to pay at the end for all the beer consumed lol. What I found funny was that you had screens on the bar walls showing you how much each table had drunk in an attempt to generate a rivalry and encourage you to drink more ! I think that would be frowned on these days and certainly wouldn’t end well in England :lol:

Re: Well, Im checking off something from my bucket list in J

Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2019 2:02 pm
by Sandgnats
Awesome Reg! Thanks for sharing! :clap:

Re: Well, Im checking off something from my bucket list in J

Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2019 2:06 pm
by Leones
That was fun. Thanks for sharing your trip Reg!

Re: Well, Im checking off something from my bucket list in J

Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2019 2:47 pm
by Borealis
Did I understand that correctly - your flight was delayed 3-days??!!??

Re: Well, Im checking off something from my bucket list in J

Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2019 3:15 pm
by Reg
Borealis wrote:Did I understand that correctly - your flight was delayed 3-days??!!??
I think the total delay was something like 25 hours. We basically missed one entire day of the trip.

Re: Well, Im checking off something from my bucket list in J

Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2019 3:37 pm
by KenH
This is awesome. I cant wait to watch the videos later!